It is like X-ray vision. Like in the comic books from when he was ten. John blinks the rain out of his eyes, and suddenly he can see through the mugger, through his shellacking of wet muscle and scaffolding of bone to the chassis beneath, to the gears and flywheels that make him move and point the knife at him. John reaches through a yielding mist of sinew and makes key refurbishments, so that the knife is aimed at the mugger’s own throat. He unscrews the man’s skull and with an easy tinkering makes him the saddest he’s ever been, plugs bright blaring red thoughts into his head.

I loved this. Absolute power, corrupts absolutely. I listened with a sick fascination.

I don’t actually think that is the theme, because the guy was already pretty awful from moment one. The first thing he did with his powers was murder a mugger and walk away without a tether thought. The second thing was steal a car. There isn’t a single moment, not even at the beginning, when he considers helping anyone else with his powers - not even his wife. This isn’t “a decent guy gets corrupted by power” story, it’s a “sociopath gets ultimate power” story.